2024 - 2025 General Cardiology Fellows

Daniel Amponsah, MD

Dr. Daniel Amponsah was born and raised in Loma Linda, California. He graduated with a BS in Biochemistry from Pacific Union College in Northern California and received his MD from Loma Linda University School of Medicine where he graduated AOA. He completed his internal medicine residency at Massachusetts General Hospital and was appointed Simulation Chief during his senior year. He is interested in pursuing an academic career in interventional cardiology with a focus on outcomes and health disparities. Prior research work has explored disparities in the management of aortic stenosis alongside Dr. Sammy Elmariah and outcomes in people presenting to the hospital with cardiogenic shock and STEMI with Dr. Anthony Hilliard. Outside of work, he enjoys playing piano/bass, game night with friends, and trips to Napa Valley.

Tasmeen Hussain, MD, MPH

Dr. Tasmeen Hussain grew up in Columbia, Missouri and earned a B.S. with honors in Molecular and Cellular Biology at Johns Hopkins University. She then attended Northwestern University and completed both her MD/MPH degrees as well as Internal Medicine residency there. Her research goals revolve around the study of tech-based behavioral interventions to improve cardiovascular health on a large scale. Her previous work includes research on smartphone apps for chronic disease management in pregnancy with Dr. Lynn Yee, motivational interviewing techniques to improve diet with Dr. Neil Stone and cardiovascular disease risk in liver transplant patients with Drs. Donald Lloyd-Jones and Lisa Van Wagner. Clinically, Dr. Hussain hopes to build a career in preventive cardiology and has a particular passion for the care of Spanish-speaking patients and communities.

Fang Cao, MD, PhD

Dr. Fang Cao is from Silver Spring, Maryland, and he attended University of Maryland, College Park where he studied Neuroscience and Computer Science. Subsequently, he completed a D. Phil. in Cardiovascular Medicine at Oxford University on a Rhodes Scholarship where he studied myocardial bioenergetics and metabolism. Then, he completed a MD at Harvard Medical School where his research focused on developing immune-compatible mature cardiomyocytes from stem cells. During his Stanford Internal Medicine residency, Fang honed his future academic interests in developing the next generation of therapies for treating heart failure and genetic cardiomyopathies. In his free time, he enjoys swimming, rowing, and exploring new restaurants.

Raeye Daniel, MD

Dr. Raeye Daniel was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. She earned her BA in Political Science at Columbia University. She then worked abroad in Ethiopia conducting public health research at Addis Ababa University. She returned to Los Angeles to complete her MD at the University of Southern California. During medical school, she developed a passion for providing care to transitional age youth with complex chronic conditions leading her to complete her residency in combined Internal Medicine + Pediatrics at Los Angeles General/USC. After residency, she served as Med+Peds chief resident where she conducted research surrounding access to comprehensive reproductive care for patients with complex cardiopulmonary disease. She plans to pursue a career at the intersection of Adult Congenital Heart Disease and Cardio-Obstetrics, focusing on patient populations who are historically marginalized. Outside of medicine, she enjoys cycling, traveling, eating, and watching NWSL games.

Miguel J. Franquiz, PharmD, MD

Miguel Franquiz was born and raised in Bel Air, Maryland. He graduated from Loyola University Maryland with degrees in Chemistry and Mathematics. He completed his PharmD at University of Maryland-Baltimore, and pharmacy residency at the R. Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore. He completed his MD at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, TX where he studied toxicities associated with drugs used to treat leukemia at MD Anderson Cancer Center. Miguel completed internal medicine residency at Stanford where he studied cardiomyopathy associated with antineoplastic drugs and immune checkpoint inhibitor myocarditis in the Han Zhu lab.

Mark E. Pepin, MD, MS, PhD

Dr. Mark Pepin is a clinical fellow within the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine and the Stanford Center for Inherited Cardiovascular Disease. Born and homeschooled in rural South Carolina, he received a BS in chemical engineering at Clemson University, where he also competed in NCAA Division 1 Cross Country and Track as a distance runner. He completed an MS in biomedical engineering at UC Davis, followed by an MD-PhD at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Before entering residency training at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Dr. Pepin was awarded the Humboldt postdoctoral research fellowship within the Universitätsklinikum Heidelberg where he conducted research in myocardial epigenetics and metabolism in the context of cardiometabolic heart failure. He received additional research funding through the NIH/NHLBI, German Cardiac Society (DGK), and German Center for Cardiovascular Research (DZHK). As a physician-scientist, Dr. Pepin aims to identify and leverage the epigenetic basis of cardiovascular disease to reverse its inherited and acquired forms. In his free time, he enjoys carpentry, running, and exploring the outdoors with his wife and their four children.

Stefan Torelli, MD

Stefan grew up nearby in Marin County. He attended Eckerd College in St. Petersburg Florida studying Biochemistry before earning his MD at Georgetown. He then returned home to California to complete Internal Medicine residency at Stanford. During residency, he became interested in the intersection between Cardiovascular Disease, Immunology, and Oncology. Under the mentorship of Paul Cheng, June-Wha Rhee, and Han Zhu, he studied cellular mechanisms of Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitor induced ventricular arrythmias as well as immune checkpoint inhibitor associated atherosclerosis. He plans to pursue a career in academic Cardiology with a research focus on translational work in the Cardio-Immunology and Oncology space. Outside of work he enjoys food and wine (enough to name his dog Rigatoni), being outside, and spending time with his wife.

Katherine V. Trinh, MD, MS

Dr. Katherine Trinh grew up in Fremont, California. She attended the University of California, Berkeley, where she studied Microbial Biology. She then earned her MD at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth and completed her Internal Medicine residency at Northwestern University. At Northwestern, she also served as Chief Medical Resident and obtained her MS in Clinical Investigation under the mentorship of Dr. Rod Passman. Her research focused on using accessible technology and real-time electrocardiograms to improve atrial fibrillation management. She plans to pursue a career in electrophysiology and is passionate about health equity and advocacy. Outside of medicine, Katherine enjoys martial arts, volleyball, and hiking.

Sarah Westcott, MD

Dr. Sarah Westcott was born at Stanford and grew up in the Bay Area. She attended Pomona College where she double majored in Biology and Politics while playing varsity Water Polo. Before attending medical school at UC Davis, she coordinated device and pharmacological clinical heart failure trials at UCSF and researched disparities in cardiovascular disease with Dr. Michelle Albert. During medical school and residency at UCSF, she continued to explore these research interests with a particular focus on cardiovascular disease in women. She plans to pursue a career in advanced heart failure and transplant cardiology, focusing on developing strategies to bridge the access gap of heart failure treatment in marginalized communities. Outside of work, she enjoys hiking, skiing, and spending time with her cat Salvatore.

Olumuyiwa “Olu” Akinrimisi

Dr. Olu Akinrimisi was raised in Long Beach, California. He graduated from UC San Diego where he studied psychology and chemistry. He then moved to East San Jose, California to serve as a middle school math teacher and girls basketball coach. Then he returned to UC San Diego to complete his medical degree, where he nurtured his passion for healthcare operations and health disparities. Next, he decided to get his MS in healthcare management at Johns Hopkins University. He completed his residency at UCLA, where he studied health disparities in ventricular arrhythmias and healthcare operations. Olu hopes to continue studying the disparities in diagnostics and management of electrical diseases. Moreover, Olu loves spending his time cooking ethnic dishes, carpentry, weightlifting, and watching dramatic movies/tv series.

Michael Liu, MD, PhD

Dr. Michael Liu was born and raised in sunny Los Angeles. He earned his BS in Physics and MS in Bioengineering at Stanford University studying new radiology and radiation oncology modalities in partnership with SLAC. He then traveled back down the Golden Coast to UCLA where in the MD-PhD program he fell in love with the physics of the heart, studying arrhythmia mechanisms with a special interest in Long QT Syndromes and Torsades de Pointes. He was happy to come back to The Farm for internal medicine residency and cardiology fellowship and has a dream to someday make amiodarone obsolete with computational modeling assisted antiarrhythmic drug discovery. Outside of work, Michael is also passionate about aviation and cats. He has held a pilot’s license since age 17 and now has 4 cats including one who had to outgrow dynamic LVOT obstruction as a kitten.

Sofia Gomez, MD

Dr. Sofia Gomez was born and raised in Miami, FL. She attended Princeton University and studied chemistry as an undergraduate before earning her MD at the University of Pennsylvania. She completed her Internal Medicine residency at Stanford, where she conducted research primarily under the guidance of Drs. Fatima Rodriguez and Marco Perez. She is interested in preventive cardiology, with a particular research focus on the screening and prevention of arrhythmias. Her clinical and research interests are also rooted in advancing health equity, particularly among women with cardiac risk factors or diseases. Outside of work, she enjoys cheering on the Miami Heat, playing basketball and tennis, and listening to spoken word poetry.

Andrew Nguyen, MD

Dr. Andrew Nguyen is from Fullerton, California. He graduated from UCLA with a degree in Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology. He completed his MD at Harvard Medical School in the Harvard-MIT Health Sciences and Technology program. He completed an MD thesis with Dr. Benjamin Ebert where he studied the role of immunomodulatory drugs (IMiDs) on the pathogenesis of clonal hematopoiesis of indeterminate potential (CHIP). Andrew completed Internal Medicine residency training at Stanford where he studied arrhythmia patterns in transthyretin cardiac amyloidosis and cardiovascular toxicities of immunotherapy. He plans to pursue a career in academic cardiology focused on cardio-oncology and the mechanisms of myocardial and vascular injury by cancer therapeutics.

Elena Vasti, MD

Elena Vasti was proudly raised by her mom and Yiayia in the California central valley before pursuing her MPH at UCLA Fielding School of Public Health and MD at UCSF School of Medicine. She became passionate about the intersection of cardiovascular medicine and public health, piloting a bluetooth-enabled blood pressure monitoring program for underserved patients as a second-year medical student. She continued similar needs-based work throughout residency, supported by incredible mentors including Drs. Fatima Rodriguez, Paul Wang and Alex Sandhu. She served as a chief medical resident from 2022-2023, where she was fortunate to be mentored by her program director, Dr. Witteles, and an amazing group of APDs. She is excited to pursue a career in advanced heart failure and transplant cardiology. Outside of work, you may spot her hitting the pavement on her daily 8-mile run to "Elena Ave" for good luck.

Aradhana Verma, MD

Dr. Aradhana Verma is a physician with a focus on utilizing outcomes research and digital innovation to improve cardiovascular health. Born in India and raised in California, she earned a degree in Cognitive Science from UC Berkeley and a Masters in Translational Medicine from UC Berkeley and UCSF. She received her MD from California Northstate University and completed her internal medicine residency at UCLA, where she led a trial using telehealth to optimize guideline-directed medical therapy for Veterans with heart failure. Her research interests include clinical informatics and digital health for equitable cardiovascular outcomes. In her free time, she enjoys the outdoors, cooking plant-based meals, and exploring local coffee shops.

John Tanaka, MD

Dr. John Tanaka grew up in Mililani, HI, before attending USC for his undergraduate studies. He completed both his MD and Internal Medicine training at Duke. He is interested in pursuing an academic career in interventional cardiology with a focus on outcomes research in peripheral artery disease. Outside of work, he enjoys golfing, running, and hiking.

Daniel Amponsah, MD

Evaline Cheng, MD

Dr. Evaline Cheng was raised in Sunnyvale, California. She graduated from Princeton University with a degree in ecology and evolutionary biology and a concentration in global health. Afterwards, she spent a year working in health policy in Washington DC, which first sparked her interest in healthcare systems. She earned her medical degree from UC San Diego and completed her internal medicine residency at UCLA. At UCLA, she conducted research investigating disparities of cardiovascular prevention in the cardio-oncology population. She also focused on quality improvement to advance guideline-based hypertension treatment utilizing clinical informatics. Through her cardiology fellowship, she plans to combine her research interests in healthcare systems and implementation science with her clinical interests in prevention and cardio-oncology.

Muhammad Fazal, MD, MS

Dr. Fazal was born in Pakistan and grew up in Dubai. He attended college at McGill University where he studied anatomy and cell biology. He completed his MS and MD from Boston University School of Medicine, graduating AOA and Magna Cum Laude. Fazal completed his residency in Internal Medicine at Stanford, where he studied the arrhythmia burden of tyrosine kinase inhibitors in patients using cardiac holter monitors and worked on using AI to predict arrhythmias in patients undergoing tyrosine kinase inhibitor therapies. As a fellow, he hopes to continue his work at the intersection of cardio-oncology and electrophysiology and pursue a career in academic cardiology. Outside of work, he is passionate about soccer, hiking, and cooking.

Tasmeen Hussain, MD, MPH

Jiwen Li, MD

Dr. Jiwen Li is a Midwest transplant and spent her childhood in Omaha, Nebraska and Vermillion, South Dakota. She is a graduate of the Rice/Baylor Medical Scholars Program and subsequently completed her residency in Internal Medicine-Pediatrics at UCLA, and served as chief resident for the IM program. Her residency research centered on device outcomes in patients with congenital heart disease, and health system innovations through clinical informatics, and its intersection with quality improvement. Her clinical interests include advanced cardiac imaging and adult congenital heart disease. A lover of the great outdoors, she is excited to hike and backpack all the great trails NorCal has to offer. Secretly, she is also a homebody and can be found raising plants and watching too much TV.

Jack O'Sullivan, MD, PhD

Jack W O’Sullivan grew up in his native Australia, where he completed medical school and clinically worked as a resident. He then pursed a PhD in computational epidemiology at the University of Oxford (UK), as a Clarendon Scholar. During his PhD, he also moonlighted as a Senior House Officer at Oxford University Hospitals (John Radcliffe Hospital). After his PhD, he completed a NIH T32 Postdoctoral Fellow with Euan Ashley at Stanford. After his postdoc, he completed internal medicine at Stanford, and fast-tracked into Cardiology also at Stanford on the Physician-Scientist pathway. His research focuses on genetics, and epidemiology/advanced statistics/machine learning. Outside of work, Jack loves to surf exploring the waves from Ocean Beach, San Francisco to Santa Cruz.

Gabriella Spencer-Bonilla, MD, MSc

Gaby earned a BA in Human Biology from Stanford, an M.Sc. in Clinical and Translational Science from Mayo Clinic, and an MD from University of Puerto Rico. She completed residency at Stanford where she also served as chief resident. Her academic interests include shared decision making, minimally disruptive medicine, research synthesis, addressing the negative effects of structural violence and racism on cardiovascular health and transthyretin cardiomyopathy.

Daniel Kim, MD, PhD

Dr. Dan Seung Kim was born and raised in Seattle, WA. He received his M.D. from the University of Michigan, graduating AOA, cum laude, and cum laude traditionis causa. During his medical training, he also received a Ph.D. in Genome Sciences and M.P.H. in Biostatistics, working on lipid metabolism genetics with Gail P Jarvik and later, Elizabeth Speliotes and Mike Boehnke. Dan completed his residency in Internal Medicine at Stanford as part of the Translational Investigator Program. As a fellow, he plans to work in multi-omics studying the physiologic response of the body to exercise, particularly in the setting of metabolic disease. Further information on his research is available on his Google Scholar (https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=-BS4U9IAAAAJ&hl=en).

Cardiovascular Disease Fellowship Program

Overview

Core Curriculum

VAPA Health Care System

Research Training and Education

Cardiovascular Disease Fellowship Program Application Process

Fellows

Prior Fellows

Fellows Salaries and Benefits

International Medical Graduates & J-1 Visas